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Unrest

Synopsis

When Harvard PhD student Jennifer Brea is struck down at 28 by a fever that leaves her bedridden, doctors tell her it’s “all in her head.” Determined to live, she sets out on a virtual journey to document her story and that of four other families fighting a disease medicine forgot.

The Filmmakers

Jennifer Brea Director

Jennifer Brea is an independent documentary filmmaker based in Los Angeles. She has an A.B. from Princeton University and was a Ph.D student at Harvard until a sudden illness left her bedridden. In the aftermath, she rediscovered her first love, film. She is a Sundance Fellow and has been supported by the Sundance Edit & Story Lab, Sundance Catalyst Forum, IFP's Filmmaker Lab, and the Fledgling Lab. This is her film debut.

Lindsey Dryden Producer

Lindsey Dryden is an award-winning producer and director who began making creative documentaries with a focus on the body and the arts, after starting her career in British TV docs (BBC, Channel 4, History Channel). Her films, including LOST AND SOUND and CLOSE YOUR EYES AND LOOK AT ME, have shown at 30+ festivals worldwide, including SXSW, True/False, Sheffield Doc/Fest and Film Society of Lincoln Center’s ‘Art Of The Real’. She has been supported by IFP, IDFA DocLab Academy and Hot Docs Forum. Lindsey is a regular mentor at festivals, a film lecturer, a recent Filmmaker-In-Residence at Jacob Burns Film Center in NY, and a proud member of the Queer Producers Collective. 

Patricia E. Gillespie Producer

Patricia E. Gillespie is a Wasserman award-winning filmmaker and Sundance Fellow based in New York City. In addition to her work on UNREST, Patricia also served as Line Producer on Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis’ WHOSE STREETS, and is currently the Creator/Director/EP of AMERICAN MONSTER, a verite true crime series produced in concert with Morgan Spurlock’s Warrior Poets. 

Deborah Hoffman Executive Producer & Creative Advisor

Deborah Hoffmann received an Academy Award nomination in 1995 for her documentary, COMPLAINTS OF A DUTIFUL DAUGHTER and again for LONG NIGHT'S JOURNEY INTO DAY in 2000. She is widely acclaimed as editor of such classic documentaries as the Oscar winning THE TIMES OF HARVEY MILK, ETHNIC NOTIONS, and MULLHOLLAND'S DREAM. She has received two National Emmys, a Peabody, a DuPont Columbia Award, and a Rockefeller Fellowship. Deborah has been a lecturer at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism since 2000. She has served on juries for the Sundance, San Francisco and Mill Valley Film Festivals and on the Independent Spirit Awards, and Gotham Awards. She is a member of the documentary branch of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

Festivals & Awards

Sundance Film Festival

2017

Winner - U.S. Documentary Special Jury Prize: Editing

SXSW TV & Film Festival

2017

Official Selection

News & Documentary Emmy Awards

2019

Nominee - Outstanding Editing: Documentary and Long Form

Cinema Eye Honors

2018

Winner - The Unforgettables - Jen Brea

Academy Awards

2017

Shortlist

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival

2017

Official Selection

CPH:DOX

2017

Official Selection

AFI DOCS

2017

Official Selection

Sheffield DocFest

2017

Winner - Illuminate Award

Reviews

Riveting...Equal parts medical mystery, science lesson, political advocacy primer and even a love story.”

-San Francisco Chronicle

Remarkably intimate, deeply edifying and a stirring call to action.”

-Los Angeles Times

Bracingly inventive and moving.”

-The Guardian